Key holder and protector



1941- R. E. JACKSON 2,253,332

KEY HOLDER AND PROTECTOR Filed April 13, 1940 Patented Aug. 19, 1941UNITE D STAT ES OFFICE 2,253,332 KEY nonma- Aunxrltorrnoronl Robert E.Jackson, DedharmlMassi Application April 13, 1940, serialNo. 329,585 8Claims. (Chm- 4 15) This invention relates to devices for containingkeys and preventing unauthorized use thereof, and more particularly tothe containing of house or apartment keys.

The principal objects of theinvention include the provision of ahousing, having a combination other locked structure; the provision ofsuch a housing having a drop shelf or drawer which contains the key anddropsupon proper Ina-.- nipulation of the combination; and the provisionof a key holder and protector of simple design and effective inoperation, having safety features to prevent unauthorized removal of thekey or the holder itself.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to. be had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 isa. front elevation of the device with drawer closed;.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. '1, but showing the drawer open;

Fig, 3 is a side elevation of the parts of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the separable front element of thehousing;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the housing, look"- ing in the directionof arrow5 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of theparts shown in Fig. 4, and looking inthe direction of arrow 6 in that figure;

Fig. 7 is a sectional View on line 1--1 of Fig. 2

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 8-8 of Fig.7; and

Fig, '9 is a detail view of a screwhead guard.

The numeral It] indicates a front plate having side flanges l2 and aninverted V-shaped The sides 26 of housing l8 provide guideways for thereception of a slidable drawer 28 which, however, is connected to thefront plate ill for vertical sliding action thereon. The. bottom of thedrawer part. way up the posts. The drawer 28, posts 30, and plate 34 areall made integral in one piece.

Plate 34 carries on itsv rear 'face a combination lock-36, the 'dials'38 of which extend thru anap'erturefdll in the plate H] to the frontthereof, so that they may be manipulated thru a.

hinged door 42 in the plate when the drawer is in up or locked position.A shelf 44 having two. depending hooks 4'6 constitutes a latch for the,lock, where when the drawer is up, and the hooks arejengaged', the partsare locked, and the front" plate ll! of course prevents access tothekey. A lip 48 extending forwardly from the, top of plate 34 preventsentire removal of the drawer 28' by engagement: with the bottom Qof thedoor opening in plate Ill.

" Plates 5i! are secured to the studs 32 by screws 152;;and screws warerotatably mounted in these housing I3. is open, and the bottom of thedraw er 28 closes the, same when the latter is in raised or lockedposition.

The drawer is enclosed on all sides except the front. Two spaced postsrise from the top of the drawer andform further guides for the drawermovement as they slidingly engage raised elements or studs 32 which areintegral with the back of the plate l0. Between posts 30 there is aplate 34 extending from the top of Plates and'held' againstaxialmovement by nuts the bosses 22; so asto secure the front plate I0to'the housing I8, When door 42 is open, the heads of screws 20 arerevealed, and can be turned by a screwdriver.

The platesifl constitute an enclosure on plate to to retain the plate 34and posts 30 and thus the drawer 28, so that tpgetherwith lip 48, the

drawer 28-, although slidingly mounted on plate it]; cannot 'be'removed'therefrom without removing screws 52 and plate 50 from the studs 32.These elements being on the rear of plate 10; it will be clear that theplate 50 cannot be removed without first removing the plate ill from thehousing I8. 'Referring to Fig; -9, which shows the top part of-a plate50; there is a pin 56 set into the -20-'in the relation shown in Fig. 9;The purpose orthis plate is to conceal" the heads of be apparenhand as amatter of fact, the screw heads'can be turned by a screwdriver only thruthe door as will be apparent from the arrangementofthe-par-ts, as shownin Fig. 7. The plates 58 being "pivoted on the pin 56 may be swung up'toreveal the screw heads of the screws 20 by a person who isaware of theirsecret. Plates 5!! are cutaway at the corners as shown, in

order to avoid impinging on the screws 52.

The door 42 is, provided with bosses 60 which are apertured to receivehinge pins 62, and as seen in Fig. 7, boss .60. is curved. at. the edgeof the door .to ride on the plate 34 when the door islswung. open. A pinor set screw 64 is mounted to project from the boss 60 and a cooperatingslot 66 is provided in the plate 34 at a point Where the pin 64 willengage in the slot when the drawer 28 is in its upward-most position andwhen the door is open. However, if the door is unlocked and the lock isnot engaged with its hooks 46, the drawer may descend.

In the operation of the device, the housing [8 is secured to any supportdesired by screws or bolts passing thru the slots 68 shown in Fig. 5,and then the completely assembled front plate Ill and drawer 28 arepositioned within the housing so that the screws 20 aline with thethreaded bosses 22. The drawer 28 is dropped, the hinge plates 58 areswung up to reveal the heads of the screws 20, and by simplemanipulation of a screwdriver, the assembled plate and drawer aresecured to the housing [8. The hinge plates 58 are swung into positionto conceal the heads of the screws 20, the door 42 is shut, and thedrawer 28 is thrust up from the bottom so as to engage and lock with thehooks 46.

It will be apparent from the above that the protective housing may besecured at some convenient location on the outside of a house ordwelling and the key to the house may be located in the compartment inthe drawer. The device being locked, an authorized person knowing thecombination may swing open the door 42, manipulate the dials of the lockto unlocking combination, and then upon closing the door and releasingthe pin 64 from the slot 66, the drawer will drop revealing the key. Inorder to close and relock the device, it is only necessary to close thedoor 42 and push the drawer upwards into locking engagement with thehooks 46. The door can then be opened and the dials on the lock changed.

It will thus be seen that the present inventor has produced a key holderand protector which may be applied to any dwelling or building to holdthe key for the same so that the key will never become lost orforgotten. This device is particularly useful for rental or sales agentswho may have a great number of houses to show prospects and who mustcarry or maintain in their offices a great number of separate keys. Byusing one of these key holders for each of their houses, such an agentdoes not have to be equipped with a key for each house or apartment butmerely has to know the lock combination, and he may thus obtain accessto and show all of his houses or buildings without the necessity ofcarrying a great number of keys.

Likewise professional people, such as doctors, who are called upon toleave their homes at all hours of the day or night for emergencies willnot be forced to stop to remember to take their front door key withthem, simply by using the device disclosed in the present application.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a housing, avertically slidable container elementtherein; with lock meansoperatively connected between the housing and element to hold the latterin raised position, whereby upon unlocking said lock means, said elementwill be caused to descend by gravity.

2. In a device of the class described, a housing having a front plateconnected thereto, a vertically slidable drawer connected to said frontplate, an aperture in said plate and locking means having one lockingelement on said slidable drawer and the other locking element beingmounted in fixed position on said housing, one of said locking elementsbeing visible through said aperture when the drawer is in closedposition, and means on said housing normally concealing said one lockingelement, whereby said locking means is adapted to hold said draweragainst descent by gravity.

3. In a device of the class described, a housing having an open bottom,a vertically slidable drawer in said housing and projecting through saidopen bottom when extended, said drawer forming a bottom for the housingwhen closed, locking means operatively arranged between said drawer andsaid housing, an aperture in said housing through which said lockingmeans is Visible, means to close said aperture, and means on said drawerpreventing complete removal thereof from said housing.

4. In a device of the class described, a housing, a vertically slidabledrawer in said housing, looking means arranged between said drawer andsaid housing interiorally thereof, an aperture in said housing throughwhich said locking means is visible, means to prevent removal of saiddrawer from said housing, said locking means being engaged when saiddrawer is fully contained within said housing, and guiding means in saidhousing for the sliding movement of said drawer.

5. In a device of the class described, a housing having a front plate,an aperture in said plate, a drawer slidable within the housing behindsaid front plate so as to be fully contained Within the housing inclosed condition thereof, a plate integral with said drawer and adaptedto be visible through said opening when the drawer is closed, lockingmeans extending through the plate on the drawer so as to be visiblethrough the front plate aperture when the drawer is closed, and means inthe housing cooperating with said locking means to lock the drawer inposition when contained wholly within the housing, said means beingcapable of manipulation through said front plate aperture to disengagethe locking means.

6. In a device of the class described, a housing having a detachablefront plate secured thereto, an aperture in said front plate, screwsmounted on the rear of said front plate so that the heads thereof arevisible through said aperture, means on said housing to receive saidscrews to connect the front plate to the housing, and a slidable drawerin said housing and concealed by the front plate when in closedposition. 7. In a device of the class described, a housing having afront plate and an open bottom, an aperture in said front plate and adoor pivoted in said aperture to close the same, a sliding drawerarranged in said housing so as to close the bottom of said housing whenthe drawer is closed, a plate extending from said drawer and visiblethrough the front plate aperture when the drawer is closed, a slot insaid drawer plate and a lug on said door to engage in said slot when thedrawer is closed and the door is open to prevent sliding movementoutwardly of said drawer, except when said door is closed.

8. In a device of the class described, as recited in claim 6, in whichthe screw heads visible through said plate opening are provided withmovable means to conceal the same.

ROBERT E. JACKSON.

